Sandy Hook boat explosion hoax: A timeline of events

SANDY HOOK — A timeline of Monday’s events involving reports — later found to be false — that a yacht had exploded off the New Jersey coast:

-- 4:20 p.m.: A radio distress call from an unidentified man comes into Coast Guard Vessel Traffic Service New York over VHF channel 14, a marine designated frequency. According to the Coast Guard, the caller says three people are dead and nine others are injured after an explosion aboard a yacht called the Blind Date, 17 1/2 miles east of Sandy Hook. He then says 20 of the 21 people on board are in the water, wearing lifejackets, according to the transmission.

-- Minutes later: Three helicopters from Atlantic City and one from Cape Cod, as well as boat crews from Sandy Hook and Jones Beach, on Long Island, are dispatched to where the Blind Date has reportedly exploded, the Coast Guard said. The caller had said a lack of power on the vessel had made it impossible to transmit a precise location by GPS. "We made our best assumption," Petty Officer Erik Swanson, a Coast Guard spokesman, said. Coast Guard radio operators unsuccessfully try to re-establish contact with the caller, Swanson said.

-- 4:40 p.m.: Fifteen members of the Rumson EMS are dispatched to a staging area at Sandy Hook, Capt. Max Ross said.

-- About 4:45 p.m.: Two Good Samaritan vessels in the area, including one called the Erica 12, search the area near the site of the reported explosion, according to the Coast Guard. The Erica 12 sails within three miles of the area where the caller said the Blind Date had exploded, the Coast Guard says.

-- 4:52 p.m.: Eight members of the Atlantic Highlands rescue squad, along with two ambulances and a medical ambulance bus, arrive at the staging area, according to Tom Hayden, chief of the first aid squad.

-- 5 p.m.: The New York Fire Department dispatches two in-service fireboats — with a total of 10 firefighters — from Staten Island. Other local agencies begin arriving at the Sandy Hook staging area. In all, 200 first responders are participating in the effort, according to the Coast Guard.

-- Shortly before 5:20 p.m.: Rescue helicopters arrive at the location, 17 1/2 miles at sea, followed a few minutes later by Coast Guard boats.

-- About 5:50 p.m.: Tracking the incident through its Joint Terrorism Task Force, the FBI deploys a supervisor to the scene, according to Michael Ward, the head of the FBI’s Newark Division.

Audio: Distress call that prompted a Coast Guard search for 'Blind Date' vesselAudio - Coast Guard Vessel Traffic Service New York received a distress call on VHF channel 14 at approximately 4:20 p.m., Monday, June 11, 2012, reportedly from the master of the yacht Blind Date, stating the vessel suffered an explosion and was taking on water. This call prompted a Coast Guard search with multiple aircraft and surface vessels, joined by aircraft and surface vessels from other agencies. The reporting source gave a position of 17.5 miles east of Sandy Hook, N.J.

-- Between 6 and 6:30 p.m: EMS personnel at a second staging area at Sandy Hook begin questioning whether the initial report was credible, Ross said. EMS personnel are told victims would arrive in 30 minutes. Then 40 minutes. Then 50 minutes. Then an hour.

-- 6:32 p.m.: New York City fireboats end their search, FDNY spokesman Frank Dwyer said.

-- 6:45 p.m.: Coast Guard officials release all medevac helicopters and other "emergency apparatuses" with the exception of Sea Bright and Atlantic Highlands EMS, according to Ross.

-- 7:30 p.m.: The New York Police Department recalls the three helicopters from the site of the reported explosion, a spokesman tells The Star-Ledger.

-- 7:40 p.m.: Rumson EMS leaves the staging area, Ross said.

-- Shortly before 8 p.m.: Atlantic Highlands EMS is released by the state’s EMS task force, Hayden said. At about the same time, the State Police calls off its search.

-- About 10 p.m.: The Coast Guard suspends its operation, having searched nearly 650 nautical square miles, saying "the investigation has begun into whether or not this was a hoax."